Mary Lee Davis Home

Miner Arthur Williams built this house in 1916 for his fashionable wife to keep her from moving to Seattle. It boasted the most modern conveniences and comforts to be found in Fairbanks at that time and represents a “catalog” house, for which all the windows, doors, and fancy work were imported from Seattle. In 1923, the miner’s widow sold the house to Mary Lee Davis, author of We are Alaskans. Already one of the most stylish homes of its time, Mrs. Davis added the first open fireplace in Fairbanks and polished oak floors. Later in the 1930s, the house was owned by the F.E. Company and used for housing supervisory employees. Today, the house has been re­stored and refurbished in the atmosphere of the 1910s when it was built; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.